WRU East One

Newport HSOB 22 Monmouth RFC 20

BOTH Monmouth RFC sides visited Newport HSOB on Saturday, but after two competitive games only came away with bonus points in narrow 22-20 and 29-25 losses, reports PETE WALTERS.

On balance, the Old Boys’1sts played the more cohesively, particularly in their three-quarters, whilst Monmouth relied upon excellent individual tries by backs Jack Churches, Amore Nove and Lewis Bates.

Having said that, if full-back Bates had realised how clear he was in the closing minutes, and had run straighter rather than to the corner, Monmouth would almost certainly have drawn with a conversion.

Newport looked slick from the start and it was no surprise when they put together a three-quarter move which outflanked Monmouth on the visitors’ right to open the scoring 7-0 after three minutes.

Monmouth then began to put moves together, tackled well and were more dominant up front, and by half-time led 14-7, following two excellent breaks by right wing Churches, the second of which centre Nove handled twice before scoring, although one of the conversions was later chalked off as missed (12-7).

Near half-time the balance appeared to swing even further in Monmouth’s favour though with two Old Boys’ yellow cards in quick succession.

The hosts shrugged this off following half-time, showing greater vigour from the restart, reverting to quick intricate passing by their backs and putting their opponents’ scrum under pressure.

Monmouth in response relied upon deep line kicking, although Newport carried strongly in reply and soon levelled at 12-12 through a try.

And with several key visiting players leaving injured,Newport then surged 22-12 ahead with two more tries, both from sustained pressure near the line, with tackling becoming more suspect despite heroics by fly-half Dan White.

With the final whistle approaching, Monmouth kicked a penalty for a losing bonus point and then all but drew with Bates’ stunning solo effort.

Monmouth are next in action on Saturday, September 20, when they play their first home game of the season against Blaina.